Archmaster
The level of involvement that the Archmasters have with their School varies depending on their individual temperament. The names given for the different Archmasters are certainly by no means their only names. However, it is the name that they would most readily answer to: perhaps it is their birth name, or perhaps it is the name by which they were known in the Guild when they were younger. Abjuration: The Crimson Archmaster is probably the most intimately involved with the lower ranking members of the Guild of all Seven. An ardent enemy of the Unburnt, he dwells enthroned in Cil Adasiga. He is the second-eldest of the Archmasters, a human who has lived well past eight hundred, but unlike the Archmaster of Divination, he has found no means of halting the aging process, only of staving off death: his body is little more than a wasted husk at this point, kept alive only by sheer force of the arcane magic that infuses it. A skilled oneirurge, he takes long rests in his cloister in order to relieve the strain on his flesh. He has vowed to cling to life until the warlocks are utterly defeated, since he sees them as by far the greatest threat to the continued survival of the Guild. Alignment: Neutral Good Iryos Utkäiž: Male human wizard abjurer 18/loremaster 10; CR 28; Medium humanoid; AL NG Conjuration: An oneirurge (dream-shaper) and explorer of the otherworldly planes, the Topaz Archmaster spends very little time on Maelris anymore. Despite warnings from the other Archmasters that his school has become tainted through alliance with the Unburnt, the Archmaster of Conjuration has largely lost interest in the responsibilities of leading his School, choosing instead to wander among the various outer planes of the cosmos and to meditate in the solitude of his cloister. Indeed, he has become resolved upon walking the Golden Road, and spends most of his time now striking up alliances with various gods in preparation for his own attempt at apotheosis. Alignment: True Neutral Rezriv: Male gnome wizard conjurer 16/planeshifter 10; CR 26; Small humanoid; AL N Divination: The eldest and most powerful of them all, the Azure Archmaster has held her position since the Guild was first created over one thousand years ago. Her seeming immortality comes from the fact that not only was she born to the elven race, but she has apparently entered into some sort of alliance with the druids: in exchange for services that she renders to them that are unknown, they have cast magic upon her body that has slowed the aging process to a mere trickle. She often goes on astral journeys to mysterious corners of the cosmos, but her physical body (which is old and wrinkled, but vibrant and healthy) lives in a manor outside of Cil Adasiga, with a great array of servants and spell-hounds to protect it against any threat. Alignment: Lawful Neutral Lady Adhairyané:' '''Female elf wizard diviner 25/archmage 5; CR 30; Medium humanoid; AL LN '''Enchantment': Deep in the jungles of the moon of Aduämsol, the Pale Archmaster has constructed a stronghold, containing magical laboratories, an enchanted pool that allows communication with her subordinates on Maelris, and a great reception hall in which she meets with the other Archmasters. She is of a harsh bent, often disagreeing strenuously with the Archmasters of Abjuration and Transmutation, whom she regards as naïve and overly sentimental. While she is unquestionably loyal to the Guild, the Archmaster of Enchantment is also a ruthless witch whose particular specialty is dominating the minds of others through magic: her stronghold is staffed by some of the native salamander-folk of Aduämsol, who have been mentally enslaved. Alignment: Lawful Evil Erika the Fair:' '''Female human wizard enchanter 27; CR 27; Medium humanoid; AL LE '''Evocation': The Viridian Archmaster is the youngest of the Seven, his predecessor having died about ninety years ago, succumbing to wounds sustained during the Grey Rebellion. The Archmaster of Evocation was chosen for the genius of his magical ability: he, more than any other, has gone far in unraveling the secrets of how arcane and divine magic interrelate. Indeed, he was also chosen for his power, as he is a mystic theurge: that is, he has the power of both a cleric and a wizard, owing to an alliance that he swore with the goddess of mages, Zemnei. The Viridian Archmaster often mediates disputes between the Brown and Pale Archmasters, who are nemeses. Alignment: Lawful Neutral Vuriaz of Therai: Male half-elf wizard evoker 8/cleric 8/mystic theurge 8; CR 24; Medium humanoid; AL LN Illusion: Master of a thousand disguises, the Violet Archmaster is the only one who spends all of his time on Maelris in his original body. However, very few know this, since he is, true to his office, perpetually cloaked in secrecy. It is said that even the other Archmasters don’t know what the Archmaster of Illusion looks like, or what his name truly is. Despite the glory of his office, this Archmaster prefers the life of a vagabond, often taking up the identity of a lowly adventuring wizard: through such disguises, he gathers arcane secrets from the far corners of the world and brings them back to Cil Adasiga, to share with his School and with his fellow Archmasters. Alignment: True Neutral The Archmaster of Illusion is, in fact, older than the Azure Archmaster, but it is complex. He was originally a wizard of Old Injil, one of the leaders of the rebellion and the Binding War: perhaps the leader. However, in the chaos of the war, this wizard was attacked with a subtle and highly effective spell, one that simply erased the wizard’s fate. He is a man without a mystery, a meaningless person in a meaningful world. It is impossible to give him a name, for his soul is indescribable, veiled from the gods. As a side effect of this, he has discovered that he cannot age, nor can he die: yet, living outside of fate, neither is he truly living, despite the fact that his body breathes, eats, and sleeps as does any other. Drifting without a sense of purpose or meaning whatsoever, he fell in with the Guild at the beginning, but because he lacks any destiny, not even the other Archmasters are able to tell, even from one encounter to the next, whether the Archmaster that they meet is the same man that they saw before. The Violet Archmaster has long since given up any hope of regaining his fate, and is instead content to wander aimlessly from one place to the next, pulled only by the randomness of a world that, for him, is without gods, fate, narrative, or purpose: such things are as invisible to him as he is to them. The drifter: Male human wizard illusionist 29; CR 29; Medium humanoid; AL N Transmutation: Despite her mighty office as one of the greatest wizards in the world, the Brown Archmaster is a pragmatic and simple soul. She has a saintly purity of heart, and spends much of her time in the Heavens, where she has established friendships with many powerful outsiders. It is whispered that she is somehow connected to the rogue wizard known as the Prophet of Alsiz. Of all the Archmasters, she is the only one who has a family, although it is hardly conventional: her husband is a celestial, and her children live in distant Lenduu as “ambassadors” to the Sovereign God who rules that land. The Archmaster of Transmutation also bakes biscuits that are truly superb. Alignment: Lawful Good Payirla dov’Embzu:' '''Female gnome saint wizard transmuter 15/celestial mystic 10; CR 27; Small humanoid; AL LG ''Skills and Feats: Greater Spell Penetration, Improved Counterspell, Iron Will, Maximize Spell (w''), Purify Spell, Quicken Spell (''w), Sacred Vow, Scribe Scroll (w''), Servant of the Heavens, Spell Mastery, Spell Penetration (''w), Vow of Abstinence, Words of Creation Owing to the sheer scope of their powers, the Archmasters usually travel far and wide across both Maelris and the cosmos, drawn by their respective business. All of them have a residence in the vicinity of Cil Adasiga, which they almost always visit disguised as a powerful but mundane wizard (they find that manifesting in the fullness of their glory tends to distract people in the city for days on end, which is counterproductive to the city’s functioning). There is also the One who was cast out. Necromancy: Her physical body destroyed after she was defeated in the Battle of Teogene by the other seven Archmasters, the Grey Archmaster was stripped of her connection to the arcane and her consciousness trapped inside of a statue, which now sits in the deepest vault of the Greater Mysteries, the chambers deep below Cil Adasiga where the Guild houses its most precious artifacts. Powerless and slowly going mad from her solitude, the Grey Archmaster will remain there until she is no longer even aware of who she is or able to remember what she did. Only then will the statue be destroyed and her suffering ended. Until then, she sits there, utterly alone. Alignment: Neutral Evil Female half-elf lich wizard necromancer 29; CR 33; destroyed; AL NE